The A4/V2 Resource
Site presents this walk-around tour of the Wizernes V2 bunker, the La
Coupole Museum in d'Helfaut-Wizernes, northern France. These images
were photographed by Ed Straten and myself during several resent
visits to the Pas-de-Calais area of France.
We highly recommend visiting the La Coupole Museum, it is an amazing
step back in history.

The La
Coupole Museum was planned and constructed over a ten year period
from 1987 to 1997. The Wizernes dome was declared an historical site in
1985 by the French government. The museum resides inside and around the
old mining quarry where, in 1943, the German Army began work on the second
of several giant hardened bunkers, intended for launching 40-50 V2 rockets
at London each day. Inside the museum, the "Historical Centre about the
war and development of the rocket," you will now find exhibits that document
the German planning and contruction of the bunker, the Nazi occupation
of France, mans conquest of space, and one example of a surviving
A4/V2 rocket.

Schotterwerk Nordwest SNW Ersatz
KNW,Bauvorhaben 21 - B21

In 1943, Hitler's forces faced
their first battlefield defeats. These reverses of fortune for the Wehrmacht
led Hitler to make secret weapons V1 and V2 a top priority program. The
construction of several hardened launch sites for V2 rockets is undertaken
along the coasts of France. It is in October of 1943 that the Todt organization
begins construction, close to Saint-Omer, of the one of the most imposing
bunkers related to the program V2 - THE CUPOLA, the domed bunker. The Todt
organization entrusted the work to large German companies and they moved
in a mountain of construction hardware such as, earth-moving & drilling
equipment, concrete batching and mixing plants, etc., -

1300
workmen would build on the site, laboring day and night, badly nourished
and abused by the German guards. The foremen and the skilled workers were
German, the hard laborers were forced workers - young French forced into
the "Service of Obligatory Work" and captive Soviet (men and women). In
July 1944, at the time the building site was abandoned, the 500 Soviet
prisoners working on the construction of the CUPOLA were dispatched by
train to Germany. They were never seen again.

It was only after Allied bombing
and damage at the Watten bunker site on August 27, 1943 that the German
Army looked to the quarry at Wizernes as an alternate prospect for V2 underground
operations. A man named Xavier Dorsch, chief engineer with
the Todt organization, had proposed the site to Adolf Hitler and
Albert Speer. His suggestion was a variation of the Verbunkerung
technique by which a one million ton concrete dome would be constructed
on the hillside overlooking the quarry, and a series of connecting tunnels
(about 7 kilometers of underground galleries) would be excavated beneath
the dome and hillside. The dimensions of the dome were to be colossal,
71 meters in diameter and 5 meters thick, weighing 55000 tons. The Wizernes
bunker would receive the code name of "Bauvorhaben 21, Schotterwerk Nord
West".

The building plans of the CUPOLA
were titanic - galleries are dug in the chalky plate for storage of the
rockets, the fuel supply, a liquid oxygen production facility, housing
for the garrison and the generators of electricity. There would be paths
leading from outside, through rocket height doors, and into the interior
assembly area. Inside, the rockets could be serviced and assembled safely,
shielded from Allied bombing by the massive dome and the chaulk hill as
well. A small railway supply tunnel would lead to all of the underground
workings and a large octagonal chamber over 100 feet under the dome. The
octagonal chamber would have a diameter of 41 meters. The height to the
underside of the dome was 24 meters. Seven stories high, all for fueling
and prepping of the rockets, the floors would be carried by the concrete
slabs, on which steel beams would lay. Another chamber for preparation
of the rockets would be located directly under the dome. When ready to
fire, they would be rolled down the giant tunnels, Gustav and Gretchen,
through the 5-foot-thick solid steel exterior doors (55 feet high) and
launched quickly. A special SS Batterie of V2 troops was planned to run
the operations at the CUPOLA. There would also be built a V2 guidance bunker
8 km south near Roquetoire.

Other features of the Wizernes complex
were to include: Regenwurmlager ("earth - worm" camp) - code name="Frontlager
Schotterwerk Nord West". Along with the building of the Wizernes dome complex
for remotely firing V2s, the Germans would build pre-defined locations
for V2 mobile-launching units. This was heavily favoured by General
Dornberger. These would be regular mobile launch sites. There were
between 30-50 scattered across the countryside around Wizernes. They were
called "Regenwurm Stellungen". Most (at least a number) of the (concrete
pads) can still be found today. The prepared V2's were planned to come
out from the Wizernes complex to the Vidalwagens & Meillerwagens, which
would be parked in a planned (but never constructed) tunnel system called
"Regenwurmlager" in the hills, on the left of the hospital.

By November of 1943, construction
had been started on the dome, along with the tunnel excavation at the base
of the quarry. Although aware in Nov. 1943 of the existence of an abnormal
building site close to Saint-Omer, the Allies were slow in targeting the
bunker for air raids. Conventional bombing of the site began in March of
1944 with little effectiveness, the dome-protected underground work was
already completed. More than 3000 tons of bombs were dropped, damaging
the close villages and upsetting the roads to the building site. But, the
CUPOLA remained intact. Work on the project continued at a fast pace even
through 229 air-raid warnings.

On April 27, 1944, 16 U.S. Army Air
Corp planes dropped (128) one-thousand-pound bombs on the target of Wizernes
with good results, losing one aircraft in the action. On June 22, 1944,
the U.S. 303rd flew a morning mission to Wizernes with a small force of
14 B-17s. This Wizernes mission was ineffective due to a heavy cloud cover.
After a two minute bomb run, the bombs fell short in a wooded area east
of the target and one B-17 was shot down by anti-aircraft guns. In total,
sixteen raids were carried out against Wizernes by Allied air forces. Allied
pilots reported heavy, accurate flak batteries in the bunker area. The
damage inflicted on the area was destruction of the railway, communications
and road networks near the bunker. Although the bunker was not destroyed
by the bombings, it was logistically unusable.

It was not until July 17, 1944 that
an attack by Allied bombers proved somewhat successful. RAF Lancaster bombers
rained down the new 6-ton
"Earthquake" Tallboy bombs. Although the dome remained intact,
the RAF bombers dropped their bombs all around the dome. Three of the Tallboys
exploded next to the tunnels, one burst just under the dome, and another
burst in the mouth of one tunnel. The whole hillside collapsed, undermining
the dome support, and covering up the two rocket vertical entry ways.

General Walter Dornberger
reported that although the contruction itself remained largely intact,
the earth surrounding the bunker was so "churned up" that the site must
be abandoned. It was believed that the dome would soon collapse also. This
was probably an exaggeration based on Dornberger's own opinion of
the dome- Dornberger had always been against fixed launching sites
for he feared Allied bombing would hamper V2 operations. The Todt engineers
disputed this finding, but the Allied invasion of France and dwindling
supplies prevented any further construction. At the end of July, 1944,
Hitler ordered the site abandoned, along with the Roquetoire
guidance bunker. Soon the V2 would be deployed exclusively on mobile
launchers in Belgium, Holland and Germany.

No rocket was thus launched from
the CUPOLA. After being inspected by a British investigation team at the
end of 1944, the CUPOLA remained forgotten for many years.

(1) Early plans and (2) the complex
shown looking east under construction in April 1943. (3, 4, 5) Aerial reconnaissance
photos from March 26 & July 06, 1944 show the massive bomb damage inflicted
around the site.

(1, 2) Low level recon flights showed
even more damage. (3, 4) Late in 1944, the Allies enter Wizernes to inspect
the dome.

At the western end of the quarry
are the remains of the Wizernes underground hospital facility. Shown also
is a photo of the hospital entrance in 1944.

The new museum entrance and the
dome on the hillside. The manned V1 in the museum lobby.

The lower northern railway entry
tunnel is where your tour begins. Soon you are in the first chambers.

As
you approach the La Coupole Museum, the dome is clearly visible on the
hillside. After parking, you will enter the first building which is the
admission and gift store area. As you walk inside, you are immediately
delighted to see an actual Fi 103 A-1 "Reichenberg IV", the manned version
of the V1 flying-bomb. Ok,.. now your interested. You must pay the admission
fee and continue on. As you exit out the rear of the admissions building,
you are on the pathway to the Wizernes tunnels. The main railway tunnel
entrance is just in front of you. Deeper into the quarry you see various
short side tunnels to your left and right.

The tunnels and chambers wind through
the hillside, leading to an elevator below the dome.

The great heights of the main chamber
under the dome. The museum is contained under the vastness of the dome.

Soon you will
arrive at the "Library of Languages," where you will be given headphones
to wear. The headphones will guide you through the remainder of the tour
in your language. The path will lead you through various supply passages
and then a quick ride in the elevator brings you to the main museum exhibition
hall. At this point you are directly under the dome. You will see WWII
and space related exhibits, There is a real size model of HWII (Johannes
Winkler), some models of the V2, Saturn rocket, Mercury rocket etc., and
about ten beautiful dioramas, a couple of original letters and drawings
of the prisoners - along with a trip to the La Coupole Theatre. Of course,
your real interest will be the ragged-camo A4/V2 hanging from the dome
ceiling along with the A4 engine display, another Fi 103 V1 flying bomb,
and an original Citroén (car) from the French resistance. Going
down on the elevator brings you to the large octagonal V2 preparations
room that is over 100 feet below the dome. You then pass through a few
more tunnels before returning to the gift store.

Other war relics near the railway
that still travels by Wizernes. Notice the guard house "now & then"
pics.

These excellent photos were supplied
by Willem Reymers of Holland. They show the Wizernes site as it
was in 1983, before the La Coupole Museum was constructed. There
are several aerial photos that show the enormity of the project. Interestingly,
in photos 1 & 5, you can see the top of Gretchen, the door where
V2s were to have been rolled out for firing.